Govt school students leave audience in 'tears' with captivating performance of Beethoven

At a time when concerts and gatherings were still a common occurrence, students from a government school adopted by Shehzad Roy’s Zindagi Trust had played a symphony from legendary German music composer Beethoven which left the audience in tears. 

“The audience and I were in tears while seeing the live performance in this video,” singer-turned-philanthropist Shehzad Roy shared recently. 

He added that the students featured in the video are Muskan Junejo from Khatoon-e-Pakistan on the violin, and Maryam Khalid from the SMB Fatima Jinnah school on piano.

“By playing Beethoven’s symphony they are telling that we can also become Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Noor Jehan, Sadequain and Imran Qureshi,” said Roy. He added that the kids were waiting for an opportunity that provides them with an “enabling environment” to bring forward their talent.

Also read: Shehzad Roy, Wasu meet Balochistan chief minister

“I hope that one day, art and music can be taken to all government schools,” said Roy

The Zindagi Trust said the event took place before the coronavirus lockdown and was the students' “first music performance”.

“All children are born curious. If we create opportunities that allow them to experience the joy of hitting the perfect note after hours of struggle, we help them grow into lifelong learners, be it in math or music,” said the Trust on their Facebook page.

History of the composition

The students were playing Beethoven's Für Elise, translated into "For Elise". The composition is one of Beethoven's most widely known works and was published after his death.

The piece was discovered by Ludwig Nohl and the version of the music heard today is an earlier version that was transcribed by the music scholar.